No Child Left Behind Legislation Reauthorization is Left Behind – For Now

Despite repeated efforts over the last five years, Congress has failed to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Act, the law that governs all public schools that receive federal financing. The No Child Left Behind version, passed in 2001, provoked controversy by holding schools responsible for student performance on standardized tests, dubbing schools that do not meet targets failures and requiring strict interventions like the replacement of a school’s entire teaching staff.

Since early last year, the Obama administration has granted waivers to 34 states and the District of Columbia, relieving them from what many argued was the law’s most unrealistic goal: making all students proficient in math and reading by 2014. In exchange, the administration has demanded that the states raise curriculum standards and develop rigorous teacher evaluations tied in part to student performance on standardized tests.

In the meantime, states have adopted Common Core Standards for math and language arts to support college and career readiness. Forty-five states, the District of Columbia, four territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity have adopted the Common Core State Standards.

DreamBox is Common Core ready to use in your K-5 classroom. It provides a rich, adaptive learning environment that enhances and deepens foundational learning that’s essential to student success in math. Learn more at http://www.dreambox.com/common-core-state-standards.